Meridian Expands Eiken Chemical Test License

Meridian Bioscience, Inc. announced it has completed an amendment to the license agreement with Eiken Chemical Co., Ltd., Japan, for its “LAMP” (Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification) technology for the expanded areas of animal, food and water testing. The LAMP technology is a leading nucleic acid amplification method that is simple to perform, rapid, highly specific and performed at a single temperature.

Unlike other amplification methods, no specialized equipment is necessary to perform the test or to determine the final result. Results are typically obtained one hour after the start of the test. The expanded license agreement allows Meridian to apply the LAMP technology for the detection of infectious agents which cause disease in animals or that are present as contaminants in food or water.

Meridian first licensed the LAMP technology from Eiken in 2006 for the newly emerging infectious disease market in humans and to build the foundation for an expanded product platform in molecular diagnostics. Utilizing the LAMP technology, Meridian commercialized the first human infectious disease assay, illumigene C. difficile, in 2010 and provided to its customers a simple and accurate test result without the need for capital investment in equipment.

Since then, Meridian has developed and commercialized a broad menu of simple and accurate molecular tests for Group A Streptococcus, Group B Streptococcus, HSV 1&2, Pertussis, and Mycoplasma Direct in the United States as well as Chlamydia, Gonorrhea and Malaria outside of the U.S. Meridian will continue to develop the illumigene menu of simple and highly accurate tests for the human infectious disease market as it seeks new development opportunities and partners in the animal and food testing markets.

Richard L. Eberly, President, Chief Commercial Officer, commented, “We are delighted to announce our expanded agreement with Eiken Chemical to utilize the LAMP technology for the molecular detection of infectious agents in animals, food, and water. The LAMP technology has enabled Meridian to deliver consistent innovation and build market share leadership in human molecular diagnostics. We are committed to growing our presence in the clinical market by expanding the illumigene test menu while exploring new opportunities in the veterinary, food and water testing markets.”

“Meridian’s success of the illumigene line of products proved that the LAMP technology has great advantages for human molecular diagnostics applications. We are pleased to sign an amendment to expand the field of use and look forward to further contributions of our technology to animal diagnostics and food and water testing,” said Morifumi Wada, President and Chief Executive Officer of Eiken.

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